I'm not sure I buy the hype. I think fans wanted it to be the great redemptive finish the show needed, and they willed it to be so more than anything. It became necessary to believe it was for propaganda purposes. It probably was the best JNT season, but probably only by virtue of being just four stories long and having less chance to screw things up in an almighty way.
Maybe it was great at the time, but I'm not convinced it's aged so well.
I also think the McCoy era can only take itself so seriously and be so 'right-on' before it starts getting a little indigestible.
Battlefield has some neat ideas in there, great standalone moments, and a genuine reverence for the Arthurian myth. It also unfortunately has a lot of cop-outs, OTT acting moments, insipid preachy bits, and moments of uncomfortable feminist militancy that leave a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. Odd thing is, the first and fourth episode are actually very solid indeed, but the stuff in-between is very cringe.
Ghostlight. I'm sorry but I never really got this one. It just seems an incoherent bombardment of loud melodrama, that just about makes sense in the end, but manages to be a very bumpy ride until then. It also feels as a Victorian satire, a bit too caricatured and nasty to the point of bleakness.
Curse of Fenric. Probably actually the most solid and atmospheric story of the era, with a great lasting, haunting after-effect and for the most part suggests the show should've had at least ten more years' life in it rather than just a few weeks.
On the negative side, Ace is unbearably clingy at some points, the over-earnest final scene probably should've been left on the cutting room floor, and some of the partisan anti-British, pro-Communist propaganda just feels forced, crass and insulting (as someone who studied History and how horrendous the Soviet armies and fear-ruled state were, I just do not believe its subjects and military would have greater faith than the Brits).
Despite which it's mostly a winner and the latter issue is kind of redeemed by the resolution of both sides teaming up *and* Fenric using that to his advantage in a pretty cool sucker punch.
Survival. I'm not sure about this one. It ends up being a bit random really. I will say the Master has benefited from his needed hiatus from the show, and comes back with renewed menace. Most of the Cheetah planet scenes are engaging, and I think the story only loses something when they get back home and it carries on trying to push its subtext into text in a rather on-the-nose way.
The final fight can't help but feel a bit of an abrupt, convenient cop-out rather than a genuine cathartic endgame (a part of me thinks it might've been better to end the show on the burning cheetah-planet, mid-fight and just leave the series on a massive cliffhanger). It seems to just end, right as it was getting interesting.
The final monologue is poignant though, and the loss of the Cheetah world a stark reminder that there are some worlds the Doctor can't always save. There are better notes the show could've ended on (Talons, City of Death, Castrovalva, The Five Doctors, Revelation, Remembrance, Fenric), but there's also worse (ending on Time-Flight or Dragonfire probably would've killed the show for good). I think in its own way it was a satisfying finish, if only for finally seeming to put the Master to an overdue and fitting comeuppance.
There was however more than enough good stuff here to make one pine for at least one more season to build on what the season was doing. Overall I'd say I'm undecided but not a fan of the era overall, but I do think one more season might've made all the difference.